De Moivre's formula

In mathematics, de Moivre's formula (also

known as de Moivre's theorem and de Moivre's
identity) states that for any real number x and
integer n it holds that

where i is the imaginary unit (i2 = −1). The

formula is named after Abraham de Moivre,
although he never stated it in his works.[1] The
expression cos(x) + i sin(x) is sometimes
abbreviated to cis(x).

The formula is important because it connects

complex numbers and trigonometry. By
expanding the left hand side and then
comparing the real and imaginary parts under
the assumption that x is real, it is possible to
derive useful expressions for cos(nx) and
sin(nx) in terms of cos(x) and sin(x).

As written, the formula is not valid for non-

integer powers n. However, there are
generalizations of this formula valid for other
exponents. These can be used to give explicit
expressions for the nth roots of unity, that is,
complex numbers z such that zn = 1.

Example
For and , de Moivre's formula
asserts that

or equivalently that

In this example, it is easy to check the validity

of the equation by multiplying out the left side.

Relation to Euler's formula

De Moivre's formula is a precursor to Euler's
formula

which establishes the fundamental relationship

between the trigonometric functions and the
complex exponential function.

One can derive de Moivre's formula using

Euler's formula and the exponential law for
integer powers

since Euler's formula implies that the left side is

equal to while the right side
is equal to

Proof by induction
The truth of de Moivre's theorem can be
established by using mathematical induction
for natural numbers, and extended to all
integers from there. For an integer n, call the
following statement S(n):

For n > 0, we proceed by mathematical

induction. S(1) is clearly true. For our
hypothesis, we assume S(k) is true for some
natural k. That is, we assume

Now, considering S(k + 1):

See angle sum and difference identities.

We deduce that S(k) implies S(k + 1). By the

principle of mathematical induction it follows
that the result is true for all natural numbers.
Now, S(0) is clearly true since
cos(0x) + i sin(0x) = 1 + 0i = 1. Finally, for the
negative integer cases, we consider an
exponent of −n for natural n.

The equation (*) is a result of the identity

for z = cos (nx) + i sin (nx). Hence, S(n) holds for

all integers n.

Formulae for cosine and sine

individually
Being an equality of complex numbers, one
necessarily has equality both of the real parts
and of the imaginary parts of both members of
the equation. If x, and therefore also cos x and
sin x, are real numbers, then the identity of
these parts can be written using binomial
coefficients. This formula was given by 16th
century French mathematician François Viète:
In each of these two equations, the final
trigonometric function equals one or minus one
or zero, thus removing half the entries in each
of the sums. These equations are in fact even
valid for complex values of x, because both
sides are entire (that is, holomorphic on the
whole complex plane) functions of x, and two
such functions that coincide on the real axis
necessarily coincide everywhere. Here are the
concrete instances of these equations for n = 2
and n = 3:
The right hand side of the formula for cos nx is
in fact the value Tn(cos x) of the Chebyshev
polynomial Tn at cos x.

Failure for non-integer powers,

and generalization
De Moivre's formula does not hold for non-
integer powers. The derivation of de Moivre's
formula above involves a complex number
raised to the integer power n. If a complex
number is raised to a non-integer power, the
result is multiple-valued (see failure of power
and logarithm identities). For example, when
n = 12 , de Moivre's formula gives the following
results:

1
for x = 0 the formula gives 1 ⁄2 = 1, and
1
for x = 2π the formula gives 1 ⁄2 = −1.

This assigns two different values for the same

1
expression 1 ⁄2, so the formula is not consistent
in this case.
On the other hand, the values 1 and −1 are both
square roots of 1. More generally, if z and w are
complex numbers, then

is multi-valued while

is not. However, it is always the case that

is one of the values of

Roots of complex numbers

A modest extension of the version of de

Moivre's formula given in this article can be
used to find the nth roots of a complex number
(equivalently, the power of n1 ).

If z is a complex number, written in polar form

as
then the n nth roots of z are given by

where k varies over the integer values from 0 to

n − 1.

This formula is also sometimes known as de

Moivre's formula.[2]

Analogues in other settings

Hyperbolic trigonometry

Since cosh x + sinh x = ex, an analog to de

Moivre's formula also applies to the hyperbolic
trigonometry. For all n ∈ ,

Also, if n ∈ , then one value of

(cosh x + sinh x)n will be cosh nx + sinh nx.[3]
Extension to complex numbers

The formula holds for any complex number

where

Quaternions

To find the roots of a quaternion there is an

analogous form of de Moivre's formula. A
quaternion in the form

can be represented in the form

In this representation,
and the trigonometric functions are defined as

In the case that a2 + b2 + c2 ≠ 0,

that is, the unit vector. This leads to the

variation of De Moivre's formula:

[4]

Example

To find the cube roots of

write the quaternion in the form

Then the cube roots are given by:

2 × 2 matrices

Consider the following matrix

. Then

. This fact (although it can be proven in the very

same way as for complex numbers) is a direct
consequence of the fact that the space of
matrices of type is isomorphic to

the space of complex numbers.

References
Abramowitz, Milton; Stegun, Irene A. (1964).
Handbook of Mathematical Functions. New
York: Dover Publications. p. 74.
ISBN 0-486-61272-4..
1. Lial, Margaret L.; Hornsby, John; Schneider,
David I.; Callie J., Daniels (2008). College
 Algebra and Trigonometry (4th ed.). Boston:
Pearson/Addison Wesley. p. 792.
ISBN 9780321497444.
2. Hazewinkel, Michiel, ed. (2001) [1994], "De
Moivre formula" , Encyclopedia of
Mathematics, Springer Science+Business
Media B.V. / Kluwer Academic Publishers,
ISBN 978-1-55608-010-4
3. Mukhopadhyay, Utpal (August 2006). "Some
interesting features of hyperbolic functions".
Resonance. 11 (8): 81–85.
doi:10.1007/BF02855783 .
4. Brand, Louis (October 1942). "The roots of a
quaternion". The American Mathematical
Monthly. 49 (8): 519–520.
doi:10.2307/2302858 . JSTOR 2302858 .

External links
De Moivre's Theorem for Trig Identities by
Michael Croucher, Wolfram Demonstrations
Project.
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